Caleb
Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific
Journalist
Norfolk Island sees its United States
tariff as an acknowledgment of independence from
Australia.
Norfolk Island, despite being an Australian
territory, has been included on Trump’s
tariff list.
The territory has been given a 29
percent tariff, despite Australia getting only 10
percent.
It is home to just over 2000 people, sitting
between New Zealand and Australia in the South
Pacific
The islands’ Chamber of Commerce said the
decision by the US “raises critical questions about Norfolk
Island’s international recognition as an independent
sovereign nation” and Norfolk Island not being part of
Australia.
“The classification of Norfolk Island as
distinct from Australia in this tariff decision reinforces
what the Norfolk Island community has long asserted: Norfolk
Island is not an extension of Australia.”
Norfolk,
previously had a significant level of autonomy from
Australia, but was absorbed directly into the country’s
local government system in 2015.
The move angered many
Norfolk Island people and inspired a number of campaigns
including appeals to the United Nations and the
International Court of Justice, by groups wishing to
re-establish a measure of their autonomy, or to sue for
independence.
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The Chamber of Commerce has taken the
tariff as a chance to reemphasis the islands’ call for
independence, including, “restoration of economic rights”
and exclusive access to its exclusive economic
zone.
The statement said Norfolk Island is a
“sovereign Nation must have the ability to engage directly
with international trade partners rather than through
Australian officials who do not represent Norfolk Island’s
interests”.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
told reporters on Thursday: “Norfolk Island has got a 29
precent tariff. I’m not quite sure that Norfolk Island, with
respect to it, is a trade competitor with the giant economy
of the United States.”
“But that just shows and
exemplifies the fact that nowhere on Earth is safe from
this.”
The base tariff 10 percent tariff is also
included for Tokelau, a non-self-governing territory of New
Zealand, with a population of only about 1500 people living
on the atoll islands.
US ‘don’t really understand’ –
PANG
Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) deputy
coordinator Adam Wolfenden said he does not understand why
Norfolk Island and Tokelau were added to the tariff
list.
“I think this reflects the approach that’s been
taken, which seems very rushed and very divorced from a
common sense approach,” Wolfenden said.
“The inclusion
of these territories, to me, is indicative that they don’t
really understand what they’re doing.”
In the Pacific,
Fiji
is set to be charged the most at 32 percent.
Nauru
has been slapped with a 30 percent tariff, Vanuatu 22
percent, and other Pacific nations were given the 10 percent
base
tariff.
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